Vintage Art Appreciation: Garden in the Wachau by Hugo Charlemont

As the years pass, I am coming more and more to understand that it is the common, everyday blessings of our common everyday lives for which we should be particularly grateful. They are the things that fill our lives with comfort and our hearts with gladness -- just the pure air to breathe and the strength to breath it; just warmth and shelter and home folks; just plain food that gives us strength; the bright sunshine on a cold day; and a cool breeze when the day is warm.
― Laura Ingalls Wilder

She was like the sun,
She knew her place in the world
- She would shine again regardless
of all the storms and changeable weather
She wouldn't adjust her purpose
for things that pass.
― Nikki Rowe

Artwork is titled “Garden in the Wachau” by Hugo Charlemont (1850–1939). Originally found on Wikimedia. Digitally enhanced version of the painting as a 9” x 12” @ 300 ppi JPEG here.


Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain fine art are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Free Vintage Nature Illustration: Hummingbird Parents with Eggs at their Nest 1

I used to dream about escaping my ordinary life, but my life was never ordinary. I had simply failed to notice how extraordinary it was. Likewise, I never imagined that home might be something I would miss.
― Ransom Riggs

The desire to go home that is a desire to be whole, to know where you are, to be the point of intersection of all the lines drawn through all the stars, to be the constellation-maker and the center of the world, that center called love. To awaken from sleep, to rest from awakening, to tame the animal, to let the soul go wild, to shelter in darkness and blaze with light, to cease to speak and be perfectly understood.
― Rebecca Solnit

I also believe that parents, if they love you, will hold you up safely, above their swirling waters, and sometimes that means you'll never know what they endured, and you may treat them unkindly, in a way you otherwise wouldn't.
― Mitch Albom

19th century illustration of both male and female hummingbirds perched around their nest in the branches of a flowering vine. There is a clutch of eggs resting in the depths of the nest, waiting to be hatched. 8” x 11” @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here.


From my personal collection of ephemera. These images are to be incorporated into your creative works. Not for resale “as-is.” Credit to FieldandGarden.com appreciated but not required.

My Photo Journal: Fleur de Villes Exhibit (2025) at the Royal Botanical Gardens Canada: Downton Abbey Theme

There are random moments - tossing a salad, coming up the driveway to the house,
ironing the seams flat on a quilt square, standing at the kitchen window and looking out at the delphiniums,
hearing a burst of laughter from one of my children's rooms - when I feel a wavelike rush of joy.
This is my true religion: arbitrary moments of of nearly painful happiness for a life I feel privileged to lead.
― Elizabeth Berg, The Art of Mending
How truly privileged I feel! To be able to witness the incredible beauty and creativity on display during the 2025 Fleur de Villes exhibit at the Royal Botanical Gardens last weekend brought a truly humbling sense of awe and gratitude. The Downton Abbey-themed celebration showcased the artistic talents of Southern Ontario floral designers who did not disappoint with their thoughtful and painstakingly crafted creations. I cannot imagine how many hours of effort must have gone into putting this show together but the results are spectacular!

Whether you love flowers or gardens or you simply want to spend an interlude daydreaming of a bygone era, and you happen to be in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), I strongly urge you to drop by and explore this floral extravanganza. The exhibit runs until September 21, 2025. Below are a few photos I took of the marvellous displays but there is so much more to see and experience in person.

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